Wire shaving machine



Nov. 8, 1932. c. FIELD WIRE SHAVING MACHINE Original Filed June 18. 1927a Sfieets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Urofi'y Weld Y ATTORNEY -Nov. 8, 1932. c.FIELD WIRE SHAVING MACHINE Original Filed June 18, 1927 8 Sheets-Sheet 2I NVENTOR ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1932. c, FIELD 1,886,662

WIRE SHAVING MACHINE Original-Filed June 18, 1927 s Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR v Croibj Field ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1932. c. FIELD 1,886,662

WIRE SHAVI'NG MACHINE original Filed June 18. 1927 a Sheets-Sheet 4 lNVENTOR Groslzy Held 7 ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1932. c, HELD 1,886,662

WIRE SHAVING MACHINE Original'Filed June 18. 1 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 1NVENTOR Umpny Field ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1932. c, FIELD 1,886,662

WIRE SHAVING MACHINE Original Filed June 18. 1927 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 l I 2333 335 334 Z97 INVENTOR Crasy eld mzzm ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1932. c, H1,886,662

WIRE SHAVING MACHINE Original Filed June 18. 1927 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 4INVENTOR Urofl 1 01250! ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1932. c. FIELD v 1,886,662

WIRE SHAVING MACHINE Original Filed June 18, 1927 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 lNVENTOR 5 E Wei/CZ 4 ATTORNEY 6 Patented Nov. 8, 1932 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CROSBY FIELD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO BRILLOMANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK Winn srmvmsmacnnin Original application filed June 18, 1927, Serial No. 199,692Divided and thia'application filed August 8,

1928. Serial No. 297,814.

My present invention relates to automatic machines for producing metalwool and many of its important features are in the nature ofimprovements which may be used with or in place of related apparatus andparts disclosed in my Patent Nos. 1,608,478 and 1,608,481, datedNovember 23,1926. In these machines, wire is drawn from a suitablesourceand is conducted through a series of successively arranged cutting orshaving units which operate upon the wire to produce the metal wool. Inthe preferred case, the wire from the last of these units istoo thin towithstand the strain of shaving and is con" ducted to a reel on which itis wound in a coil to be disposed of as waste. Each of the cutting unitsincludes a power driven, rotary bed in the form of a disc wheel having aplurality of adjacent grooves, formed in its periphery, in which thewire is held by friction in a plurality of parallel loops or strands andis carried by the wheel in operative relation to a series of cuttersarranged around the periphery of the bed. As the wire leaves the lastgroove of each bed, it passes to the next succeeding bed where it entersthe first groove thereof. Preferably, the wire passes in the loops andbetween the units, in single direction curves of greater or less radiusbut without reverse bending at any point.

Provision is made in the present invention to wrap the wire around agreater portion of each bed, substantially in advance of the firstknife, which results in a much steadier operation of the machine. Tothis end, one of the features of the invention relates to the meanswhich transfers the loops of wire from one bed groove to another andincludes a single guide roller beneath each bed. The guide roll-er hasparallel grooves corresponding with and in the same plane as the bedgrooves, and the path of the wire is such that each length travellingfrom a roller to a bed groove lies in the same radial plane with theroller and bed groove, while each strand travelling from the bed to theguide roller slants across the radial planes.

The spaces between the grooves of the bed 50 are considerably greaterthan in my prior machines, so that contact of the wires of the adjacentloops is avoided. This affords opportunity for the wires more readily tocenter themselves under the guidance of the guide roller and to retaintheir flat or cutsurfaces parallel. This is important because when thewires lie close to each othcr,"they are likely to come into contact dueto vibration and dirt which may collect, and such contact is likely toresult in a slight axial twist of the wires so that their flat cutsurfaces are slightly twisted from parallelism with the cutting edges ofthe knives. By the increased separation of the grooves, the flangesbetween them can be made thicker and accordingly they wear much longer.By having the grooves in the bed thus separated, the adjacent strands ofwire and the periphery of the bed including the grooves, may be readily70 cleaned of dust or shavings which would otherwise interfere with theoperation of the machine.

Another feature of the invention relates to means for cleaning the wireand the pe- 5 riphery of the beds including the grooves therein. To thisend, there may be provided a wiper or pad to engage the adjacent strandsof wire on the sides which engaged in the grooves. Said wiper may belocated in that 80 portion of the loop which extends from the wheel bedto the guide roller. Said devices or wipers may be pivotally supportedand are spring pressed, one against the periphery of the bed wheel andthe other against the wire. 35 Thus all dust and shavings are removedfrom the periphery of the bed wheel and from the wires. It will beunderstood by placing the adjacent strands of wire a considerabledistance from each other, that the wiper, which may be of comparativelysoft material such as felt, may extend a considerable distance aroundeach strand for eifective cleaning.

The diameter and corresponding eripheral length for each bed groove oneach wheel is'greater than for the preceding groove not only to keep thecut surfaces up to the same level across the periphery, but also to keethe intermediate loops tight on the wheel be s in spite of minutestretching by the 40 to 60 1 1 beds.

to keep only the first and last loop portions in proper non-slipengagement with the rooves. Though the difference in circumerencebetween any two adjacent grooves is slight, it has an important effectin keeping the intermediate loops tight on the wheel.

Another feature of the invention relates to means to prevent unduestress on the wires between successlve cutting units, and this 1neludesmeans for keeping the bed wheels r tating at the same peripheral speed,preferably including elastic take up meanspermitting momentary sli htdifference in speed, as when. the speed 0 a preceding bed is decreasedas by increase in its load, which may be due to variation in the qualityof different parts .of the wire being operated upon. Said speedcontrolling means may include guide rollers to form elasticallytensioned loops in the wire between successive wheels. Any variation inthe speeds of adjacent bed wheels is effective to change the tension ofthe loop, and this is utilized to change the position of the loopforming guide roller, preferably causing the guide roller to slide inthe plane of the loop, permitting the latter to lengthen and shortenwithin limits, maintaining aproximately constant tension on the wire.

his to and fro bodily movement of the guide roller or dancer roller isutilized to operate suitable mechanism to cause corrective change in thespeed of one of the adjacent wheel In the present form of the invention,each bed is driven by an electric motor, and each motor is controlled bya rheostat. The

'rheostat associated with the motor of the first bed may he handadjusted or permanently fixed, while those associated with the motors ofthe succeeding beds are automatically controlled by the respective loopsand dancer rollers in advance thereof. The mechanism operated by thedancer roller may include a chain extending over a sprocket wheel and oerable against a suitable weight. The sprocket wheel being connected toa shaft rotated thereby, which shaft in turn is geared to the motorrheostat to adjust it.

As in my patents referred to, the knives which produce the shavings orwool are pivotally mounted and yieldingly held against the wire,preferably by suitably arranged weights adapted tocounterbalance thethrust of the wire against the grooving edge of the knife. All pivotalmovements of the knife are damped by inertia and friction so thatchattering is prevented and, in normal operation, the knife isself-gaging as to depth of cut, smoothly floating on the wire which itis cutting. However, the wire sometimes has hard spots due to slag orother defects in manufacture. When such a hard spot reaches I a cutter,the increased rearward thrust causes the knife to rise entirely out ofcontact with the wire instead of digging and cutting it off. Animportant feature concerns means for shaving off such uncut ordefectively cut hard portions before the wire again comes under theknives. This is preferably a special planing cutter arrangedin advanceof each set of grooving cutters and adjusted so that it is ineffectiveso long as the grooving cutters operate normally to shave off the normalthickness of metal. When the grooving cutters begin to jump, theattendantthrows them out of action and the s ecial cutter becomeseffective for shaving o the excess thickness of wire untilthe hard spothas passed and the grooving knives again put in operation. The specialknife may be of Very hard material such as stellite, to suit thespecially hard metal it cuts. It is not unlike the wool cutting knives,being straight edged for the purpose of planing from each strand ofwire, a flat ribbon-like shaving instead of thread-like shavings fromthe wool producing cutters.

In one form of the invention the special cutter is carried by a su porton 'a fixedbracket, and the knife is ad usted with reference to theperiphery of the bed by means of a support adjustable on the bracket.

An important feature of my invention depends on the discovery that theprinciple of floating, self-gauging operation which is so important formy grooved wool cutting knives, is also operative and advantageous inconnection with the special planing knife for the hard spots even thoughthe latter lacks one of the factors of self-gauging which ischaracteristic of the grooving knives, namely, the variation in 'Wldllhof cut simultaneously with variation in depth of cut, which ischaracteristic of a V-edged knife. In this form of invention, theplaning knife is pivotally supported and is held in its operativeposition by a weight supported on a lever arm extending from the pivot,and adjustable lengthwise thereof, according to depth of the cut desiredon the strands of wire. This mount is not full floating, gauge meansbeing provided to limit movement of the knife toward the wire and theadjustment being such that the knife cannot cut so long as the woolproducing cutters are operating normally to remove the usual thicknessof metal. Within the range of float, however, the tendency of the wireas it advances past the knife, is to force it rearwardly away from thewire. This tendency is counterbalanced, however, to a greater or lessextent by dig-in tendency of the blade and by the weight on the leverarm. Accordingly, for a given knife, the depth of the cut is depend entupon the position-of adjustment of the weight along the lever arm,except as the depth of cut is limited by the gauge.

. of each group of cutters. A lubricant such as mineral oil is suppliedfrom a pump having connections with all of the lubricating devices, thepump being geared to the bed so as to operate only while the bed isrotating.

Each lubricating device may include a cuplike element having a padtherein, the su ply pipe being connect-ed with said cup-li (e element tosupply the lubricant to the pad, and the pad lying against the adjacentstrands of wire that are looped around the bed.

In order that the pad may be swung away from the bed at will, thecup-like element is pivotally supported on a fixed bracket, suitablepressure means being provided against the action of which said elementmay be swung to its effective position. In order that swing may be madewithout disturbing the connection to the pump, the pump supply pipeenters an aperture in-a stud forming a pivot for the cup-like elementand from this aperture a tube extends into said cuplike element. a

As different kinds of liquids are used for the wool producing knives andfor the special planing knife, provison is made for supplying theliquids from two separate sources.

Fig. l'is a diagrammatic front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is an end view showing the loops of wire extending from thecylindrical bed to a roller beneath said bed for transferring the wirefrom one groove to another of the bed;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view showing the ad jacent strands of wire in theirrespective grooves of the bed and their relation to the knife;

Fig. 4 is a sectional front elevation of the entrance end of the machineshowing the pathof the wire and the means for automatically controllingthe speed of the beds;

Fig. 5 is a detail top plan View showing the manner of guiding the wirefrom the supply reel to the shaving machine;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional elevation illustrating the mechanism,including a dancer roller, for controlling the speed of the beds, thesection being taken on the line 66 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional front view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 9 is an end view of'one of the cutting units showing also the woolcollecting hood and the means for removing the smoke and dust from theroom;

Fig. 10 is a front elevation of one of the shaving units, including therotating traction bed, and illustrates the means for lubrieating thewire; it also shows a fixed cutter to remove the sh or other undesirablematerial from the wire, and cleaners or wipers for the wire and bed;

Fig. 11 is a detail top plan view of the wire cleaners;

. Fig. 12 is an end view of one of the devices of the wire lubricatingsystem;

Fig. 13 is a front elevation of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a top plan view of Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is a top plan view, partly in section, of the planing knife orfixed cutter for removing the undesirable material fromthe wire;

16 is a front view of 15;

Fig. 17 is a top plan view of a modified form of planing knife;

Fig. 18 is a front view of Fig. 17;

Fig. 19 is a diagrammatic front view showing the means for conductingthe wire from the bed at the exit end of the machine to. the Wastewinding reel or drum;

Fig. 20 is a sectional view of one of the guide rollers used inconducting the wire through the machine; and

Fig. 21 is a front elevation of another form of planing knife.

present machine, as in n1y Patent No.;;1*,508,481, dated Nov. 23, 1926,a single wire 49 (Fig.' 1) may be conducted in single curvature loops,without reverse bending, from a supply reel 50 (Figs. 1 and 4) throughone or a succession of cutting units. The first unit includes acylindrical bed 48 formed in the periphery of a traction wheel or disc'52, which is power driven in a manner hereinafter described. The wireis looped a number of times around the traction wheel 52 and a transferguide roller 53, in successive parallel grooves 59, 60, and is thenconducted to the next cutting unit by suitable guide means includingroller 270, hereinafter described, for regulating the speed of the nextsucceeding wheel bed 52a, in accordance with the speed of said firstbed. The wire passes in a 00p around said take-up roller 270 and backaround another roller 269, which is preferably non-slidable, whence itpasses under the transfer guide roller'53a of said succeeding wheel bed52a. The Wire is then looped around the bed 52a and said transfer roller5311 a number of times, and is then looped around a third bed 52?) andits transfer roller 53?) and so on through as many cutting units asdesired. Knives or cutters, 58, are arranged in series around the upperhalf of the periphery of each bed and extend transversely of the bed, sothat each knife edge operknives. Each bed wheel is rotated in adirection to carry the wire in one direction loops, without reversebending .as indicated by arrows in Figs. 1 and 4, so that .the upperhalves of the loo s advance against the edges of the knives whiletravelin toward the supply end of the machine. The knives being groovedas in m above mentioned patents, present il-toothe ed es to the wire andthese opeigate to cut from t e wire a series of separatefiber-like lenhs constituting the metal wool product of t e machine. Y

The wire, in passing into the machine, is conducted to the first bedgroove of the wheel, this being the groove at the extreme left in Figs.3 and 9. As the loop of wire passes down from said groove to thetransfer guide roller 53, it slants over (Fig. 2) and enters a secondgroove of the series of grooves 60. Said second groove of the transferroller lies in the same plane as the second groove 59 of the bed wheel,so that the wire in passing back to the wheel from the guide roller 53,is conducted in a plane re istering with the second groove 59 of said weel 52.

Each time the wire is looped around the wheel bed, it is exposed to thecutting edges of all the knives 58, say to or more in number, andaccord' ly the wire becomes thinner as it advances t rough thesuccessive loop paths from the first or entrance, groove toward thefront or exit groove of the bed, that is, from left to right in Fig. 3.In order to have each cuttin edge operate simultaneously on thesuccessively thinned strands it is necessary to have the successive begrooves and the cutting edge of the knife correspondingly nearer to eachother, so that the space at the right (Fig. 3) is less than at the left.

I prefer to obtain the gradual decrease in space between the effectivesurfaces of the beds and the cutting edge of the knife by having thesuccessive bed surfaces formed on circles of successively greaterdiameter, and

v if the wheel periphery is approximately cylindrical, this results indecreasing depths for thesuccessive grooves 59. This permits having thecuttingedge of each knife 58 arranged to operate su stantially in thesurface of a cylinder of appropriately larger diameter and, in mostcases, approximately parallel with the axis of the bed shaft 52. Withthis arrangement of decreased depth of the grooves 59, the metal isremoved across a cylindrical surface exactly transverse to thelengthwise curvature of the wire so that as the wire becomes flatter, itnaturally continues to do all its bending and straightening in the sameplane in which it was bent and set by the first groove of the machine,whereas an inclined cut surface would cause a twisting resultant forevery change in curvature. As the wire 49 advances successively from onegroove 'to another, the slight increases of diameter of the cutter bedstends to retighten the wire.l This is" important, particularly where theend tension on the wire is only sufiic-ient to maintain good workinengagement of the first and last loops witl i the first and last groovesof each wheel. In such case, the very minute stretching of the wire byeach circuit under the knives, would tend to loosen the intermediateloops, but this is compensated b the tightening due to the slightmcrease o perip eral length of the successive bed grooves.-

After the wire has been operated upon at the last bed, 52h, it has beenreduced to waste and passes under guide roller 53k to a windingreel 61.

he details of the supply reel, the waste reel and the operating meanstherefore are not more fully descri e material to the subject matterhere claimed.

d herein, as they are not These elements are fully disclosed and claimedas part of the plant in the parent a plication Ser. No. 199,692, January18, 192%, and are further claimed per se in another divisionalapplication, Ser. No. 297,316, filed August 3, 1928, now Patent No.1,826,758, granted October 13, 1931.

When the wire is fed from the reel 50 to mains stationary on the shaft,or, in other words, does not feed laterally thereon. Ac-

eordingly, provision is made of means to guide the wire from the reel,which may include a roller 248 which is like the roller 245 (Fig. 20)having-a deep groove in which the wire is guided. The roller 248 ma besupported on a bar 249 carried by brac ets 250 extending upwardly fromthe floor 67. From the roller 248, the wire is conducted to a similarroller 251,.which is rotatably sup ported between fixed collars 252 on abar 253 supported in foundations 254 and 255, upon which bed supportingframes 256 and 257 are located; From the last mentioned roller 251, thewire is conducted to the first groove in the guide roller 53 whence thewire extends to the bed 52. The walls of the hole, in the roller 248,through which the shaft 253 extends are curved so that said roller maytraverse the rod :tndadjust itself, to the direction of the wlreextending from the reel to the stationary guide roller 50, thisdirection varying as the wire unwinds from side to side of the reel.

The wheel bed 52 of each shaving unit may be secured to a shaft 258supported in bearings 259 and 260 (Fig. 9) on the bed supporting frames256 and 257, WlllCll are located respectively at the front and rear ofthe bed, said frames being connected to each other to increase theirrigidity by bars 261.

The bed wheels are rotated by electric motors 262 each motor beingconnected through a coupling 263 with a gear transmission device 264connected with the wheel shaft 258 by'a. coupling 265. The geartransmission device is designed to have a great speed-reducing,torque-multiplying ratio, so that the wheel bed may be driven at propercutting speed, by means of the high speed motor 262. To control thespeed of the wheel beds, I provide a separate rheostat connected in thefield of each motor 262. The rheostat for the first wheel bed is manualloperated and rheostats 266, for the succee ing wheel beds, areautomatically operated, as will be explained. Each rheostat is locatedin an arch 267 formed in a foundation 268 extending upward from thefloor 67 to support its motor 262 and the transmission device 264.

The means which prevents undue stress on the wire extending between thecutting units, may include a statonary roller 269 (Figs. 4, 6, 7 and 9)and a movable or dancer roller 270, around which rollers the wire iswrapped to form a take-up loop 271. The stationary roller 269 may berotatably supported by a shaft 272 on brackets 273 secured to the.

foundations 254 and 255. The dancer roller 270 may be supported by ashaft 274 in brackets 275, slidingly supported on upper guide rods 276and lower guide rods 277, all

of the guide rods being supported at their letthand ends (Figs. 6 and 7)in the brackets 273 and at their righthand ends in a bar 278 secured tothe drum supporting frames 256 and 257. The guide rollers may be roovedas shown to prevent rubbingwhere t e wire crosses near the roller 269.

When the load is increased on any wheel, as for instance, the firstwheel 52 (Fig. 4), which may result from varying hardness of thematerial in difierentparts of the wire, there is a tendency to reducethe speed of that wheel. The second wheel being then operating undernormal conditions, at unreduced speed, the tension tends to increasebecause the wire is being drawn from the loop faster than it is beingsupplied thereto. Slightly increased tension draws the dancer roller 270bodily toward the stationary roller 269, against the action of suitabletensioning means. Such means which may include an adjustable weight 279operating on oneor more sprocket chains 280, one end of each sprocketchain being'secured to a fixed bar 281, and each chain extendingdownwardly around the guide roll-er 282 which carries the weight 279.From the guide roller 282, the chain exends upwardly over a. sprocket283 and is then connected to the bearing bracket 275 which supports thedancer roller 270. The sprocket-s 283 are secured to a shaft 28supported in fixed brackets 285 secured to ll 0 frames 256 and 257. Thusthe variat'ons in tension and size of the take-up loop cause the dancerroller 270' to move back and forth and such movements of the rollercause partial rotations of the shaft which are utilized to eflectcorresponding adjustments of the field rheoslat of the motor whichdrives decrease of speed of the first wheel.

the next succeeding or second wheel 52a thereby varying ,the speed ofsaid second wheel by and iii-accordance with increase or On the otherhand, if the second wheel slows down while the first wheel keeps on atnormal speed, the intervening take-up loop lengthens, thereby increasingcurrent supply to the second wheel and bringing it back to normal speed,regardless of its increased load. Thus the first or hand adjusted wheelsets the normal speed, controlling speed of the second wheel.

To connect the shaft 284 with the rheostat 266, the shaft extendsrearwardly where it is supported in a bearing 287 on a block 287aextelldilig up from the floor 67. A sprocket 288 igs. 8 and 9) securedto said shaft, is connected by means of a chain 289 to a sprocket 290,secured to a shaft 291 of the rheostat. By turning this shaft in eitherdirection, the rheostat is adjusted to increase or decrease the speed ofthe motor 262 and consequently the speed of the bed. To prevent injuryto the dancer roll mechanism when a break in the wire releases tensionon the dancer roll, I provide bufi'er springs 292 coiled round the guiderods 276 and 277. These absorb the shock when the dancer roll issuddenly pulled towards the supporting b?! by the then unbalanced pullof the weight 2 9.

The speed of each succeeding wheel throughout the machine, is controlledby a rheostat which is automatically adjusted by a take-up means such asabove described, located between it and the preceding wheel. Thus,differences in load resulting in differences of speed and resultingtension on the intermediate portions of the Wire are utilized to adjustthe power of the motor of the followfng bed, thereby regulating itsspeed and closely limiting the variation of tension between the beds. 1j

The final wheel may similarly control the speed of the winding reel atthe exit end of the machine by means of an interposed takeup loop anddancer roll mechanism, but the field rheostat operated thereby ispreferably in series with a hand controlled rheostat operated from acentral control station and the hand control being entirely practical,automatic control by the dancer roll and loop may be dispensed with.

The grooving knives, 58, may be like those in my above mentioned patent.They are arranged in groups around the periphery of the bed wheel asindicated in Fig. 10, where the size of the knives is somewhatexaggerated for clearness of illustration. Each knife is supported in aholder or bracket, 295,

mounted to swivel about a pivot 296 on a semi-circular frame 297extending adjacent the upper or cutter bed portion of wheel 52 andsupported on the main frame 256; Each l knifeholder has connectedthereto a weight, 298, which tends to force the cutting edge of theknife toward the wire which 1s supported in eripheral bed grooves.

hen particularly hard spots in the w re reach the knives 58, said knivestend to rise or jump, with the result that they do not produce thedesired quality of shavings and, in fact, do not do enough cutting of ankind to be at all effective in removing sai hard spots. To take care ofthis, I provide for each bed a special cutter or lanmg knife, 299 (Fig.10), located prefera 1y 1n advance of the grooving knives and arrangedto operate as a gauge cutter for removing any undue thickness of metalfrom each loop of wire, before it again passes to said grooving knives.This gaugelaner 299 may be located in a slot, 300 igs. 15 and 16), of aknife holder 301, and may be secured to sa1d holder by a set screw 302.The holder is rovided with a reduced shank 303, exten ing through abracket 304 which may be secured to the cutter supporting frame 297 byscrews 305. The holder 301 may be secured to bracket 304 by a collar306, which may be secured to the shank 303 by a pin 307. The shank 303of the knife holder is provided with a cross bar 308, constituting twoarms extending to opposite sides of sa1d shank. These ,arms may beengaged by set screws 309, 310 supported by an extension 311 of thefixed bracket 304. By manipulating the set screws 309, 310, the knifeholder may be rotated slightly about its axis to ad ust the cutting edgeof the knife 299 to the loops of wire on the bed. The planin knife is ofsuflicient width to en age all of the adjacent loops of wire on the edand, when properly set, it does not touch the wire, so long as thegrooving cutters 58 are functioning properly to remove the normalamount'of metal. As soon as the attendant notices ump1ng of thesecutters, he may swing them out of action where they may be held bysultable detents 312, which drop into apertures, not shown, in theperiphery of the knife supporting frame 297. As soon as said groovingcutters are thrown out, the thickness of each loop reaching the planingknife 299 becomes correspondingly greater than normal, and the excessthickness that would ordinarily be removed by the grooving cutters 58 ispresented to the special cutter 299, which planes a ribbon-like shavingfrom each loop, thus removing the undesirable material from the wire andreducing the Wire to normal thickness. After this has been done, thewool producing cutters may again be rendered effective.

The planing knife may be mounted to I operate as a fixed gauge cutter,but in such a way that it may be instantly thrown into or out ofoperative relation to the wire, as indicated in Figs. 17 and 18, whereinthe planing knife 299 is secured in a holder 314 by lockscrew 313, saidholder includin a pivotal shank'3l5 which extends throng a bracket 316secured to the knife supporting frame 297. An arm 318 is secured to theshank by collar 318a and key-screw 318?). The collar has a radialprojection 3180 for an adjustable gauge screw 319 which bears against afixed stop 320, extending from the bracket 316. The direction of thruston the knife holder is such that it has little or no floating tendency,but it is free to be pivoted instantl away from the wire 49 on the bed52. The l imit of movement of said knife towards the bed is accuratelygauged by the set screw 319. The

weight 321 functions mainly as an inertia mass to steady the knife inits auging position and to return it to said position.

While the planing knife may be mounted to operate as a fixed cutter, Iprefer to have it mounted as a floating knife which will pivot away fromthe wire under excessive thrust and which tends to be automaticallyselfgauging for constant depth of out, after the manner of thewool-grooving cutters. One such arrangement is shown in Fig. 21, wherethe knife 299 is secured in a holder 321a by a clamping screw 313a, theholder being mounted on a pivot 3211) secured to the knife supportingframe 297 As in the case of the wool cutting knives, the pivot isdesigned to afford frictional opposition to all pivotal movements andthere is a weight'321c to oppose pivotal movements away from the wire.In the present case, however, movement of said knife towards the bed islimited by the adjustable gauge screw 319a, engaging stop 321d. As thetendency to thrust the knife away from the wire increases with thethickness of the shaving being cut, the thickness of the shaving to beremoved may be controlled by the adjusting of the counter-balancingweight. Thus I provide a positive gauge stop in combination with a knifewhich is capable of floating or self-gauging operation within desiredlimits and which is effective to cut a ribbon-like shaving from thewire, whenever its thickness is greater than the normal for which thegauge screw is set.

A lubricating or cooling agent, such as mineral oil, is supplied to thecutters, by applying it to the strands of wire. Such a lubricatingsystem may include a plurality of lubricating devices, 322 (Fig. 10),one in advance of each group of cutters 58. A pump 323 of any suitableconstruction is supported on a bracket 324 on the main frame 256 andoperates to force the lubricating agent through supply pipes 325 to saidlubricating devlce 322. when the bed 48 is rotating. Its driving meansincludes a sprocket 326 on the wheel supporting shaft 258. This sprocketdrives a chain 327 connected with a sprocket 328 which rotates the pumpshaft 329 and thus Preferably, pump 323 operates only 1 operates thepump to force the lubricant through the supply pipe 325' to saidlubrieating devices.

Each lubricating device, 322 (Figs. 12, 13 and 14) may include acup-like element, 330, having secured therein a pad 331, which may be offelt, and to which the lubricant is supplied from a chamber 332 in saidcup-like element, the lubricant being supplied to said chamber in amanner hereinafter described. The lubricating device is held resilientlyagainst the lengths of wire 49 so that as they advance past saidlubricating device, they are wiped by the pad 331, which is saturatedwith the lubricant. To resiliently hold said device against the wire,the cup-like element is supported by pivots 333 and 334 on a fixed.bracket 335 which may be secured to the knife carrying frame 297, and aspring 336 is connected to a pin 337 of the cup-like element 330 and toa pin 338 of the bracket 335 to hold the pad of the lubricating deviceagainst the strands of wire. This arrangement enables the lubricatingdevice to be thrown out of action by swinging the cuplike elementupwardly about its pivot. To conduct the lubricant from the supply pipes325 to the chamber 332, the pivot 333 may be provided with a head 339having an aperture 340 in which the end of the supply pipes 325 isreceived. A tube 341 conducts the lubricant or liquid from the aperture340 of the pivot stud to the chamber 332. Thus with this arrangement,the cup-like element may be swung about its pivot without disturbing thelubricant supply connection. It will be noticed in Fig. 14 that the endof the supply pipe is threaded into the head 339. This threading isloose enough to enable the head to rotate on the end of the supply pipeswhen t the lubricating device is swung out of or into position.

A lubricatin device 342 which may be con-. structed like the lubricatingdevices 322 is provided for the planing knife 299, and may be secured tothe knife carrying frame 297. Since the work done by the planing knife299 is considerably greater than the work done by anyone of the woolproducing knives 58, it IS desirable to use a different kind of coolingor lubricating agent. Accordingly, provision is made to supply theliquid from a separate source, which may he done by means ofa ump, notshown, connected to said lubricating device 342 by a supply pipe 343.

To clean the of the traction eds and also the 100 s of wire, wipers 344and 345. respectively 10 and 11), are provided at each bed. The wiper344 is provided with a pad 346 which lies against the periphery of thebed; said pad may be of comparatively soft material, such as felt, so asto" embed itself in the grooves. The wiper 345 is also provided withdownwardly towards and around the grooves 59 in the periphery pad 347,of comparatively soft material, 11 the loops being spaced considerabledisconsiderable portion of the circumference of the wire. The wipers arepivotally supported on a rod 348 extending between the rames 256 and257. The wipers may be held in position lengthwise of said r0 inalignment with the bed and the loops of wire, by suitable collars 349. Aspring 350 may be located between the wipers to separate them and force.tances from each other, the pads engage a v the wiper 344 against theperiphery of the bed and the wiper 345 against the s of the wire. Itwill be understood that the 00 s of wire extend from the bed at one sie, guide roller 53 and then upwardly back to the bed, and it is in thisportion of the loops where the wipers are preferably'located, so thatthe one may conveniently engage the periphery of the bed, while theother engages the surfaces of the wire that contact with the bedgrooves. Thus the grooves and the wires are kept clean by brushingshavings and dust from each of them between every passage under thegrooving knives.

The lubrication is under the subject matter of a separate divisionalapplication, Ser. No. 297,318, filed August 3,1928.

To collect or gather the wool, there is provided at each bed a hood 351(Fig. 9). Each hood is concave and extends rearwardly from the peripheryof the wheel bed so as to receive the wool as it is blown away from thecutters by air jets 352, which are supplied through a pipe 353, asindicated in Fig. 10; and also in Fig. 34 of parent App. Ser. No.199,692. The wool is conducted by said hood into pockets 354, one ateach side thereof, where it accumulates. Each hood also serves as aprotector for the bearing 260 of the bed shaft (Fig. 9).

To convey the wool away from the machine, to a place where it may bereadily accessible for storage or packing, I provide, at each pocket354, an inclined chute 355, extending upwardly to an opening (not shown)in the wall of the room. The wool may be elevated, by suitable means notmaterial to the present invention, and therefore not. described. Theconveyor is claimed as an element in the combination, made the subjectmatter of the parent application, Ser. No. 199,692, filed June 18, 1927,of which this is a division. The conveyor is claimed per se in thecompanion division of said parent application, Ser. No. 297,317, filedAugust 3, 1928.

The wire tension regulating means, while of another divisionalapplication, Ser. No. 297,319, filed August 3, 1928.

To strin or thread the wire around the series of be s, the end of thewire is fastened to strong'flexible cable of the aero lane type, whichis assed around the first ed or wheel 52, the ca le due to itsflexibility seating itself in the bed grooves, more readily than thewire 49, particularly if the wire be heavy. The free end of the cable ispulled by hand, so that just the proper tension is produced on the wire,and is passed around the guide rollers 53, 269 and dancer rollers 270and proceeds from bed to bed. As the operator keeps the cable taut byhand, all the beds and rollers of the cabled bed and the latter may beoperated at a slow speed, about 10 to 30 feet er minute. As the wirewraps around a be the dancer roller preceding it moves away from thebuffer springs 292 to a normal running position or the buffer springsmay follow the dancer rolls as in Fig. 6. In case there should occur abreak in the wire, the ends of the wire are brought together at aconvenient place and welded end to end and the slack, if any, is takenout of the wire, after which the beds may again be started for cutting.

1. A machine for making steel wool, including two circular beds, aroundeach of which a wire is conducted to form amultiplicity of loops, thewire extending from the exit side of one bed to the entrance side of theother bed, a lurality of grooved shaving knives to pro uce a series ofshavings from each loop of wire, mounted for active and inactiveengagement with said wire and a planing knife associated with the firstbed which is normally ineffective but which becomes eifective to out aribbon-like shaving from each wrap when the grooved knives are ininactive enga ement with said wire.

2. A machine for converting wire into metal wool including a powerdriven traction rotor around which the wire is tightly looped, a seriesof associated cutting tools, means producing air jets adjacent thecutting tools, and an auxiliary cutting tool out of the range of saidair jets and coacting with the looped wire to remove undesirable metaltherefrom.

3. A machine for converting .wire into metal woolincluding a powerdriven traction rotor around which the wire is looped, cutting toolscoacting with said rotor, wiper means to remove dirt and chips from therotor and from the wire as the latter moves toward the former, means forfeeding cutting fluid to said tools, and means generating air jets forblowing the moistened wool strands away from the tools.

4. A machine for converting wire into metal wool including a powerdriven traction rotor around which the wire is looped, cutting toolscoactin with said rotor, wiper means to remove d1rt and chips from therotor and from the wire as the latter moves toward the former, means forfeeding cutting fluid to said tools, means generating air jets metalwool including a series of power driven traction rotors, metal wirewound in loops about the successive rotors, to be converted into wool ina single pass through the machine, cutting tools coacting with saidrotors, means wiping dust or chips from each rotor bed and from the wirefed'thereto, means producing air jets directed adjacent said cuttingtools, and an auxiliary cutter to remove undesirable metal from thewire, said auxiliary tool being at a distance from said cutting toolsand beyond the range of said air jets.

6. A machine for converting wire into metal wool comprising a successlonof traction rotors, each havin grooves in its periphery engaged bysuccessive s of the same wire, separate electrlc motors or driving theseveral rotors, stationary grooving cutters co-.

acting with said rotors for producing the wool, wiper means in advanceof the knives of each rotor for removing dirt and chips from the rotorbed and from the wire, and tension control means interposed between eachtraction rotor and its neighbor to de-' termine the operation of therespective motors for preventing wire rupturing differences in thespeeds thereof.

7. A machine for converting wire into metal wool comprising a successionof traction rotors, each having grooves in its pee riphery, engaged bysuccessive loops of the same wire, separate electric motors for drivingthe several rotors, stationary grooving cutters coacting with saidrotors for producing the wool, wiper means in advance of the knives ofeach rotor for removing dirt and chips from the rotor bed and from thewire means for lubricating the cutters, and tenslon control meansinterposed between each traction rotor and its neighbor todetermine theoperation of the respective motors for preventing wire rupturingdifferences in the speeds thereof.

8. A machine for reducing wire to metal wool and scrap, including aseries of power driven traction rotors, a supply reel bevond the firstof said rotors from which a wire is looped about said rotorssuccessively, a winding reel beyond the last of said rotors to collectthe scrap therefrom, grooving cutsponding motor, to prevent wirerupturing differential speeds thereof, means lubricating the wire andthe several cutters, and wipe! means for removing dirt and chips fromeach loop of wire as it is about to pass upon a traction rotor and forsimultaneously cleaning the contiguous bed surface of the rotor.

9. A machine for reducing wire to metal wool and scrap including aseries of power driven traction rotors, a supply reel beyond the firstof said rotors from which a wire is looped about said rotorssuccessively, a winding reel beyond the last of said rotors to collectthe scrap therefrom, grooving cutters coacting with the several rotors,separate electric motors for driving the several rotors, wire tensioncontrol means interposed between said traction rotors for governing theoperation of motor of one traction rotor from the speed of anothertraction rotor to prevent wire-rupturing differential speeds thereof,means lubricating the wire and the several cutters. and wiper means forremoving dirt and chips from each loop of wire as it is about to passupon the traction rotor and for simultaneously cleaning the contiguousbed surface of the rotor, and air jet producing means adjacent to andblowing upon each of the cutting edges.

10. In a machine for makin metal wool from wire, a wire supporting ed, amultiplicity of grooving cutters each yieldingly mounted for selfadjusting engagement wit portin said gauge knife being a pivoted holderwit means tending to force the knife toward the wire sufliciently totake the thrust applied in cutting said ribbon-like shavin and means tolimit the movement of the kni e toward'the groove support for the wireto CROSBY FIELD.

the wire, and adapted for movement to rela tively inactive position, incombination with a gauge cutter constructed and arranged to shave oifexcess thickness of the wire left by said grooving cutters whenrelatively inactive.

11. A machine for making metal wool from wire, including a plurality ofgroove supports for the wire and sets of grooving cutters arranged tooperate simultaneously on successive lengths of the same wire, incombination 1 with a cutter between said successive sets of groovingcutters normally out of contact with the wire cut by said groovingcutters but arranged to act as a gauge cutter to cut a ribbon-likeshaving from the wire when the metal removed from the wire by thepreceding set of groove cutter is less than normal, by a predeterminedamount.

12. A machine for making metal wool from wire, including a plurality ofgroove supports for the wire and sets of grooving cutters arranged tooperate simultaneously on successive lengths of the same wire, incombination with a cutter between said successive sets of groovingcutters normally out of contact with the wire cut by said groovingcutters but arranged to act as a gauge cutter to cut a ribbon-likeshaving from the wire when the metal removed from the w ire by thepreceding set of groove cuttez, is less than normal, by a predeterminedamo: .t; Hr scans of sup-

